Surah Stoneland, Rock city, Al-Hijr valley [Al-Hijr] in English

Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of a clear Book, the Quran.

A time will surely come when those who are bent on denying the truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God,

so leave them to eat and enjoy themselves and let them be beguiled by vain hopes; for soon they will realise [the truth].

We have never destroyed a township without a definite decree having been issued;

no people can forestall their doom, nor can they delay it.

They say, \"You to whom the Reminder [the Quran] has been sent down, you are surely possessed.

Why do you not bring down the angels upon us, if you are truthful?\"

But We send down the angels only to bring justice and then they will not be reprieved.

It is We who have sent down the Reminder and We will, most surely, safeguard it.

We sent messengers before you to the previous peoples,

but there was never a messenger who came to them but they mocked him:

thus We cause this [habit of mocking] to enter into the hearts of the sinful.

They will not believe in it, though they have before them the example of former peoples,

and even if We opened to them a door from heaven, and they began ascending through it,

they would still say, \"Our eyes have been dazzled. We are bewitched.\"

We have placed constellations in heaven and have beautified it for beholders,

and We have guarded it from every accursed devil:

but if anyone eavesdrops, he is pursued by a bright flaming fire.

We have spread out the earth, and set upon it firm mountains and caused everything to grow in due proportion.

We have provided therein a means of livelihood for you and for all those creatures for whom you do not provide.

There is not a thing but its storehouses are with Us. But We only send down each thing in an appropriate measure:

We let loose fertilizing winds, and bring water from the sky for you to drink; and you could not have stored it up for yourselves.

Truly, it is We who bring to life and We who cause death and We are the inheritor of all things.

We know those who lived before you and those who will come after you.

It is your Lord who will gather them. He is all wise and all knowing.

We created man out of dry clay, from moulded mud,

and the jinn We had created before from flaming fire.

Your Lord said to the angels, \"I am about to bring into being a man wrought from mud.

When I have formed him and breathed My spirit into him, fall down in prostration before him,\"

then the angels all prostrated themselves together.

But Satan did not; he refused to join those who prostrated themselves.

God asked him, \"What is the matter with you, that you are not among those who have prostrated themselves?\"

He replied, \"I am not one to prostrate myself to a man whom You have created out of a clay of moulded mud.\"

God said, \"Then get out of here; for you are accursed,

and the curse shall be on you till the Day of Judgement!\"

Satan said, \"O my Lord! Grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection.\"

He said, \"You are granted respite

till that Appointed Day.\"

He said, \"My Lord, since You have let me go astray. I shall make the path of error seem alluring to them on the earth and shall mislead them all,

except for Your chosen servants.\"

God said, \"This is the path which leads straight to Me.

Surely, you shall have no power over My true servants, except those misguided ones who choose to follow you.

Surely, Hell is the place to which they are destined,

it has seven gates: and each gate has a portion of them allotted to it.

Truly, the God-fearing shall dwell amid gardens and fountains --

\"Enter therein in peace and security!\" --

We shall cleanse their hearts of all traces of ill-will; they will be like brethren seated on couches facing one another.

They will not be affected by any weariness there, and they will never be made to leave.\"

Tell My servants that I alone am the Forgiving, the Merciful One,

and that My punishment is a painful punishment.

Tell them about Abraham's guests:

when they came to him they greeted him with: \"Peace.\" He said,\"We feel afraid of you.\"

They said, \"Do not be afraid. We come to you with good news. You shall have a son who shall be endowed with great knowledge.\"

He said, \"Do you bring me such news despite my old age? What kind of good news are you bringing me?\"

They said, \"We have, indeed, given you glad tidings in truth; do not therefore despair.\"

He said, \"Who but the misguided despair of the mercy of their Lord?\"

Then he asked, \"What then is your business, O messengers?\"

They said, \"We have been sent forth to a guilty people.\"

Except for Lot's household, all of whom we shall rescue,

except his wife. We have decreed that she will be among those who remain behind [and will be lost].

When the messengers came to Lot and his family,

he said, \"You are strangers [to me].\"

They said, \"No, but we bring you news about what they disputed,

and we have come to you with the truth, and surely we are truthful,

so leave with your family some time in the latter part of the night, and walk behind them. Let none of you look back. Go where you are commanded.\"

We communicated to him Our decree that the guilty ones would be destroyed by the morning.

The people of the town came along, revelling,

and he told them, \"These are my guests, so do not disgrace me.

Fear God and do not shame me.\"

They said, \"Did we not forbid you to extend hospitality to strangers?\"

He said, \"Here are my daughters, if you must act in this way.\"

By your life, they wandered on in their wild intoxication

and thereupon the blast [of Our punishment] overtook them at sunrise.

We turned the town upside down and rained upon them stones of clay.

There are certainly signs in that for those who can learn a lesson --

it is still there on the highway --

surely in this there is a sign for those who believe.

The people of the Wood were also surely wrongdoers.

So We took vengeance on them. Both are still there on the highway, plain for all to see.

The people of al-Hijr also rejected Our messengers:

We gave them Our signs, but they turned away from them.

They carved out dwellings in the mountains, and lived in security --

the blast overtook them early one morning.

All that they had acquired was of no avail to them.

We have created the heavens and the earth and all that is between the two in accordance with the requirements of truth and wisdom. The Hour is surely coming. So overlook [their faults] with gracious forgiveness.

Surely your Lord is the All Knowing Creator!

We have given you the seven oft-recited verses and the great Quran.

Do not strain your eyes towards the worldly benefits We have bestowed on some of them, nor grieve on their account. Lower your wing of mercy for the believers

and say, \"I am, indeed, a plain warner,\"

such as We send down for those who are divisive,

and who have broken the Scripture into fragments --

by your Lord, We shall question them all

about whatever they had been doing!

Proclaim openly what you are commanded, and avoid the polytheists.

We will, surely, suffice you against those who mock,

who set up another god with God, but they shall soon learn.

We do indeed know how your heart is distressed at what they say.

But glorify your Lord with His praise, and prostrate yourself: